Terror alert issued after suspicious liquid sent to hospitals
An alert has been sent by the chief medical officer to all NHS organisations after a suspicious package containing liquid was sent to a number of NHS hospitals, HSJ has learned.
'Fantasy' trust debts overtake PFI liabilities
A steep increase in emergency bailouts means NHS trusts’ total borrowing from the Department of Health and Social Care has overtaken their PFI liabilities.
CCGs appoint new chief officer
Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Clinical Commissioning Groups have appointed a new joint accountable officer, a key appointment as it bids to move towards an integrated care system model.
Commissioners look again at trust's 'fragile' services
NHS England and local commissioners want to look again at “fragile” clinical services run by Bedford Hospital Trust – less than a year after the provider committed to retaining its emergency and obstetrics departments.
Trusts in separate health economies consider 'stronger collaboration'
Two hospital trusts in separate health economies are looking at the benefits of a “stronger working relationship and collaboration”.
Exclusive: Patients at risk as blood clot assessments decline
Thousands of hospital patients are being put at risk of developing deadly blood clots that cost the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds because of a failure to carry out a routine assessment.
Highest and lowest trusts in each area for staff witnessing care mistakes
A breakdown by area of acute trusts by the share of staff saying they had witnessed potentially harmful errors, near misses or incidents in the last month, in the 2017 NHS staff survey.
In full: Pathology network proposals
HSJ approached the 29 pathology networks proposed by NHS Improvement to ask if local trusts had signed up. In most cases the proposed “hub” trust was able to answer on behalf of its network.
ACS commissioning group re-enters special measures after seven months
A large clinical commissioning group – which is part of a proposed accountable care system – has been put back in financial special measures, less than a year after coming out of the regime.
Analysis by trust: Large majority provide less consultant access at weekends
The majority of trusts continue to provide patients with less access to consultants at the weekend compared to a weekday, new data reveals.
Trusts plan 'ambitious' merger in under six months
Two Bedfordshire hospital trusts intend to merge by April – a timeframe that both organisations admit is “ambitious”.
Exclusive: Hospital seeks 'joyful' merger with teaching trust
Bedford Hospital Trust is seeking a formal merger with Luton and Dunstable University Hospital Foundation Trust, HSJ has learnt.
Jeremy Hunt to announce digital trust 'buddies'
The government will distribute £181m to a second wave of digital trusts, the health secretary is expected to announce tomorrow.
Exclusive: Trust bailouts rise to £2.7bn as more rely on loans
NHS trusts were forced to draw down £2.7bn of emergency cash bailouts from the government last year – with two-thirds of hospital providers now relying on government loans to maintain payments to staff and suppliers.
CCG abandons controversial rationing plan after trust's warning
Commissioners have abandoned plans to restrict access to hearing aids after a foundation trust warned they could be breaching their legal duties.
Workforce app targets agency fees costing NHS up to £600m
A social networking app is aiming to cut into the hundreds of millions of pounds NHS trusts pay to temporary staffing agencies.
First nine 'accountable care systems' revealed
NHS England has announced the nine areas most likely to evolve into “accountable care systems”.
NHS bed occupancy hits record high
The latest NHS bed occupancy figures are the highest ever recorded for a third quarter since quarterly data collections began in 2010, providing a further sign of the system’s capacity challenges.
Revealed: 24 A&Es could be closed or downgraded
Twenty four emergency departments - around 15 per cent of the national total - could be closed or downgraded in the next four years, according to HSJ analysis.
Midlands STP plans 'unified leadership' for three hospitals
The STP for Luton, Bedford and Milton Keynes reveals plans for “unified leadership, management and operations across all three hospitals” on the patch, but states that the three will not formally merge.